Lorex - 8-Channel, 4-Camera Indoor/Outdoor Wired 4K 2TB DVR Surveillance System
Model: LHV51082T4KXW
SKU: 6203029
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Customers often highlight the excellent camera quality, producing great pictures both day and night. The high resolution, while requiring manual adjustment to 4K for optimal results, is also frequently praised. Many appreciate the effective night vision capabilities, including color night vision in sufficiently lit areas and clear infrared vision in darkness. Ease of installation and user-friendly navigation are additional positive aspects mentioned by users.
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I bought this system to replace an old 1280x1024 60 degree field of view security camera system. We had some auto burglaries in our neighborhood, and the old system could barely tell that the suspect vehicle was an S-10 pickup, and couldn't even tell if it had a license plate, let alone what the numerals were. I wanted higher resolution and better field of view, so if anything happens again, the video is actually useful to the police. My first disappointment out of the gate, is that after installing all of the cameras, I found that they would not work with my old cables. This despite them being continuous coaxial cables with the standard BNC plugs, and standard power connections. I ended up having to spend an extra $130 and ordered four 120 foot, high grade cables from Lorex, then of course spent 2 days in my attic and crawl space, re-running/fishing cable. Having the system not work with the existing cables caused more work and money spent. Once I got the system hooked up to the new cables, everything worked like a charm. I did notice the resolution was definitely not 4k, but a check of the system settings found they had the system set at 1080p by default. I switched it to 4k resolution, and it was a dramatic difference. The pros would be these cameras have a great field of view, much wider than the old ones, and the resolution on stationary items is fantastic. I could make out license plates on stationary vehicles up to about 70 feet from the cameras. The night vision and color night vision both also work very well, with very clear images of everything in the camera view. Now the con, and it's a big one- The cameras only record at a maximum of 7fps (they default to 1fps but you can increase it to max 7fps in the settings), which is just not sufficient for moving objects. Cars doing as little as 10mph are blurry, and the license plates are a lost cause. Part of what prompted this purchase was the prior lack of ability to identify the suspect vehicle in a rash of crimes in my neighborhood, and this system still won't be able to identify a suspect vehicle, due to that 7fps limitation. That limitation defeats the entire purpose of this purchase, and for that reason, I cannot recommend this system. If Lorex could resolve that and make a higher fps option via a firmware update that would resolve moving objects, then maybe then, but not at present. *Note- The white truck in the attached photo was coming to my house for a service call, and was slowing to stop and then back into my driveway. Even at only about 7mph, moving vehicles are blurry.
Posted by Ghostryderflytby
I recently obtained an all wireless HD security camera system that I truly enjoy. However, we had one incident where the camera was not able to pick up enough detail. Even though the cameras for that system are listed as HD/1080p, there just was not enough fine detail. Now that I have the Lorex 4K Wired system I can see all the details that I have been missing. The comparison photo of the two systems below doesn’t really do it justice, but you should be able to see just how much clearer, sharper and detailed the Lorex is in comparison. The second picture is a comparison of the night recording. Color Night Recording is enabled by default only if there is enough ambient lighting. Some nights my porch light was enough, some it was not. When there is not enough light, it uses IR light to get the typical night vision image, but with great clarity and distance. The top two images are of the Lorex system while the bottom two are with the wireless HD system, with my porch light on and off. It is kind of unfair to compare a wireless system to a wired system due to their various difference, as I wanted the wireless system for the freedom of placement, but in comparison to price, the Lorex system is still cheaper than the wireless system with 4 cameras and the recording capability is drastically better. Setup is fairly straightforward, but requires some precise planning if you don’t want to have to purchase additional cables as the included cables are short. The BNC/Power cables are 60ft long and barely long enough to get around 2 sides of my house to reach a corner, but plenty long to reach the nearest two corners. The included HDMI, LAN and power cable on the other hand makes you believe that they intended for you to stack everything right on top of the DVR as they are not even long enough to connect in my entertainment center. I also have mine connected to an UPS to ensure recording even during power interruptions but that was a stretch with the short cables. Once everything is attached you can manage the DVR with the mouse for all of the setup. The interface is clunky and takes a bit to get used to. However, once a password is set up and connected to the network, I found it easier to use a web browser to manage the rest of the settings. You just access it by the IP that is displayed on the Info screen with the admin/password that you gave it. It will not work with Chrome due to the requirement to use NPAPI. The web interface allows you to do everything you can do directly through the device, just with the comfort of your regular computer. The DVR is designed to work with all kinds of different cameras, so some features show available, like Pan/Tilt/Zoom, but the cameras do not support it. One of the first things I did is change the resolution to 3840*2160(4k) for everything to make sure I get the maximum out of it. With that though, settings have a huge impact on how much you can store on the 2TB drive. I have had continuous recording on for 10 days with all 4 cameras at 4k, 7fps, CBR, 4096 bit rate and the drive now reads full. However, that just means the old footage is being overwritten. This is still more than my other service as they only kept 7 days without a paid subscription and that was only motion detection events. The Lorex Cloud app also allows you to manage your device, view live cameras, and look at playback. However, the resolution you receive through the app is horrible and more just for general reference and allows for push notifications when motion is detected. WIth that though, you will need to do some fine tweaking of motion settings as it is default I was getting notifications with every gnat that flew by. The app interface is just as clunky as the DVR interface. However, when looking at a single camera, you can enable the security light, which is just an LED, and the siren, which is laughable. I don’t expect that light or alarm to actually scare anyone from my house, but it might at least get their attention so that you get a clear image of their face. I was against getting a wired system, simply due to issues like being limited to 60ft. However, the 4K clarity of this system has convinced me to change over. Over time I might consider getting some different supported cameras so that I may use the PTZ features. But, for now this system has my house covered and I’m almost anxious to catch something in action so I can show off the detail to others.
Posted by DavidJr
I did a lot of research on security systems before my purchase. A lot of the competitors are going wireless and have a cloud storage which comes at a monthly cost. With the Lorex 4k system(wired), it records directly your DVR up to 1 week on 4k recording or you can go out a few months if you set it up on lower resolution. This video system is 4k and for a residential house it's perfect. Plus, you can add cameras (comes with 4). I'm impressed with the day, color night vision, and in complete darkness it turns on the infrared vision to see black and white in complete darkness. It's not lacking on those features. The features I really like about this system is the ability to setup 24/7 recording and also motion detection that will send your phone app a notification that someone is within the video frame. It works for knowing when packages are delivered or just keeping eyes on your property while away. I can actually zoom all the way to my neighbors front door (about 200') and see if they have a package delivered. I highly recommend this to anyone looking to purchase their first or even a new security system. It does the job and has optional cloud storage from the company at a low cost if you absolutely want that feature.
Posted by SLENNGLENN